So I posted this a few weeks back;
“I recently purchased a 1991 Honda Escort. The very next day I bought new radiator fluid and filled it up. Today (about 3 weeks later) I look down and my engine Temp is way up in the red. When I stop and check my coolant levels there is none to be found. I have never noticed a leak on the ground from my car, or a visual leak on the engine. At times there is light smoke that comes out of the tailpipe.
From everything I have read thus far it sounds like a bad head gasket, or at the very least an internal leak. Any ideas on how I can diagnose this myself cheaply?”
Responses I got were that it most likely was a blown head gasket. Since then however I have used a “block Tester” to see if any CO2 was coming through to the radiator, and the test came up negative.
When the car had first started to overheat and I found that there was no coolant left in the radiator, I put water in as a temporary fix to get home. Now (three days later and no driving) there is no water left in the radiator, and when I went to check my oil I found a copious amount of water mixed in with my oil.
So it seems to be that I am loosing coolant into my oil somehow. Can anyone suggest the next steps I could take in finding what I need to do to fix this leak at home? Also, is this as bad (possibly worse) than a blown head gasket?
Thanks in advance for the help!
~Adam
Most likely a bad head gasket, though it could also be a cracked engine block.
Unfortunately, it sounds like the car already had this problem when you bought it. Did you have a mechanic check it out first?